SYLVIA BRINGS COUNTRY MAGIC PLUS DETERMINATION TO SUNRISE

Country music singer Sylvia says she's not a feminist in the strict sense. But she thinks many people don't give female entertainers credit for having any business sense.

"There's a misconception in the business that female singers don't make their own decisions and that there is some man, a manager or producer, who's making decisions for them," said the 28-year-old native of Kokomo, Ind.

"But, I'm not a feminist," she said, to set the record straight.

Sylvia, who has two No. 1 singles -- Nobody and Drifter -- and has just released her fifth RCA LP titled One Step Closer, signs all the checks and makes the business decisions for her act, which she brings to Sunrise Musical Theatre Thursday. Country singer Earl Thomas Conley also is on the bill.

"I believe in my gut feelings. I've got to go on what I feel," she said. "I'm not right 100 percent of the time but more often than not I am."

Included in the decisions she makes are which singles from her albums are to be released and other career-related matters such as bookings.

"I even sign my husband's paycheck," she said giggling, referring to her lead guitarist Tom Rutledge, who for several years was a member of the road band for Dolly Parton. "One of these days I hope to give him and all of the band five times as much."

Sylvia was a secretary for 4 1/2 years after coming to Nashville from Kokomo in 1976 with a car and a month's rent provided by her understanding parents.

But having her husband work for her is not a problem.

"I hired him and put him on a salary. That was before we began dating and ending up married," she said. "It may be hard for some to have a husband as an employee but it hasn't been for us. We are right for each other." Sylvia said she was sort of a wallflower in high school in Kokomo.

"It's true that I had no dates. The main reason was that I was so determined and set my sights on getting to Nashville and a singing career that I wasn't interested in dating. I spent a lot of time practicing before the mirror. There's not a lot going on in music in Kokomo."

Sylvia's fifth album represents a different direction from her earlier releases, which were all produced by Tom Collins. The new producer is Brent Maher, who is also instrumental in the success of The Judds, the mother- daughter team named best new group of 1984 by the Country Music Association.

"I thought I needed some new musical input," she said. "I was looking for a simpler production, tasteful with strong songs and lyrics. In the past the songs have been fun, like Nobody and Snapshot. There is nothing wrong with that but you can't make a career on fun songs."